R.I. tightens restrictions after 2 virus deaths

G. Wayne Miller Journal Staff Writer gwaynemiller

Saturday

Mar 28, 2020 at 1:32 PMMar 29, 2020 at 12:54 AM

PROVIDENCE — With Rhode Island recording its first two deaths from coronavirus disease and anticipating more to come, Gov. Gina Raimondo on Saturday issued her most severe orders to date in the state’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

She was prompted in part by the many people authorities have spotted in stores, at parties, on the seashore and other places who have been ignoring a previous order banning gatherings of more than 10 people and requiring social distancing.

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Based on reports from police and others, about half of all Rhode Islanders have been ignoring those directives, Raimondo said during her 1 p.m. news briefing.

“Knock it off,” she said. “You are risking the lives of everyone in the state.”

Starting immediately with a new executive order, gatherings of more than five people are banned, inside or outside.

Raimondo on Saturday also issued a “stay-at-home order” requiring people to remain at their homes except for essential excursions such as shopping for food, medication and gas. Groups of five or fewer are still allowed in public spaces such as parks and beaches, provided social distancing is observed.

Among the other directives announced on Saturday:

Anyone entering Rhode Island from any state, not just New York, must self-quarantine for 14 days. Shopping across the state line in Massachusetts is still allowed and shoppers doing so do not have to self-quarantine, but they must still practice social distancing and obey both states’ restrictions on the size of gatherings.

Rhode Island residents who commute to jobs in Massachusetts are allowed to continue working there, Raimondo said, but when they return to their homes here, they must self-quarantine in their houses or apartments. Many health-care professionals commute to jobs at hospitals and other medical centers in the Bay State.

Beginning Monday and continuing to at least April 13, all non-essential retail stores must close. “This is a step I take reluctantly,” the governor said, but like the stay-at-home and five-person orders, it was one she said she believes necessary after reports of so many people defying earlier restrictions and requirements to social-distance.

List of “critical” and “non-critical” retail businesses

Take-out, drive-through and delivery from restaurants is still permitted.

Rhode Island’s first two deaths occurred Friday and Saturday, the governor said. A press release from the Rhode Island Department of Health stated:

“Two persons with underlying medical conditions are the first Rhode Islanders to die from COVID-related illness. ... One individual in their 80s died Friday, March 27, at night and the other individual in their 70s died today,” Saturday, March 28.

No other details were provided, but Raimondo and Health Department director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott both expressed condolences.

The governor also reported 36 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the state’s total to 239, with 29 people hospitalized with the disease.

The deaths of the two people are an omen of things to come, the governor asserted.

“These are the first deaths but certainly will not be the last,” Raimondo said. “This is for me and for all of us a reminder of the stakes that we face.”

Another reminder came when the governor said that state authorities working with Army Corps of Engineers personnel who have been in Rhode Island for about a week have identified many locations for satellite hospitals.

The Rhode Island Convention Center and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center are two large buildings that have been publicly named as possible provisional hospitals. Plans continue for medical professionals to staff such places, should that become necessary.

“We want to be able to provide thousands of hospital beds and be able to staff those beds,” the governor said. “In the weeks to come, we’re going to be climbing the curve. At what rate, I do not know.”

Nor is the state yet ready, Raimondo said, although intensive planning continues.

“Right now, we are not ready for a surge,” she said. She called a surge “inevitable,” adding, “This is going to get very real very fast for all of us.”

Rhode Island still suffers from a lack of medical supplies such as personal protective equipment, PPE, and finds itself battling with other states, the federal government and even other countries to get them, the governor said.

“We are in a ferocious fight” to get what is needed, Raimondo said.

Raimondo said that state parks and beaches remain open and offer therapeutic opportunity in these times, provided the new rules are observed.

“You need exercise and fresh air, and it’s good for your mental health,” she said.

But if rules are not being obeyed, “in a few days,” she said, “I’ll have to close them.”

Asked by someone in the media if she fears her daily press conferences and their increasingly severe orders make for bad “optics,” Raimondo said, “I am focused on outcomes, not optics.” She added “I am out of ‘good’ options,” and said the ones left to her, harsh as they may be, are the only way to saves lives.

Her decisions, she said, are based on “facts, evidence and data.” And, she said, they represent “a targeted approach based on facts, based on data, based on science,” along with input from medical, public-health and other experts. She warned again of the volume of disinformation surrounding COVID-19 and said the daily conferences are the best way to learn truths.

Raimondo said state government is working to help people who cannot leave their homes to have necessities brought to them.

She also ordered people with any symptoms of any disease not to leave their homes and to call their health-care provider if warranted.

“If you are sick, if you have the sniffles, you have to stay home, period,” Raimondo said.

The new five-person order, the governor said, does not permit a new set of four others to be with you on the next day or beyond.

“Try to limit yourself to the same five people,” she said.

Although authorities have begun stopping passenger vehicles with New York state license plates as they enter Rhode Island, in response to the state and its largest city having become the U.S. epicenter of coronavirus disease, police and the National Guard will not be screening cars coming in from other states. Rather, it is expected they will self-quarantine on their own.

The governor also said that police have begun issuing fines to people who are not observing social-distancing and crowd-size restrictions.